


Amidst Thorns and Flames

by UnrulyCrow



Category: Twisted-Wonderland (Video Game)
Genre: Dark Fairy Tale Elements, Family Drama, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Sleeping Beauty Elements, Snow White Elements, disney twisted wonderland - Freeform, twisted Wonderland, twst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-17 02:29:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29464290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnrulyCrow/pseuds/UnrulyCrow
Summary: A backstory in three parts, through three different characters.
Relationships: Malleus Draconia & Original Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	Amidst Thorns and Flames

**Author's Note:**

> First posted on my blog back in April 2020 and over the following months. It was the start of my Twst writings and I've been experimenting a bit since then so you may notice a difference in writing as the chapters get published. Constructive criticism is always welcome! Also, feel free to play the Catch The References game!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens when a lady decides to escape a giant trap shaped like her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little precision, as stated on what's literally the first post on my Twst Tumblr blog, I headcanon NRC and RSA as co-ed, because I believe women can be associated with villainous and heroic characteristics as well.

On a cold winter morning, a woman pricked her finger while spindling. As a drop of blood fell on the floor, she found herself wishing for a girl with hair dark as night, skin white as snow and lips red as blood to the honored ancestor of the family, commonly known as the Green Man rather than an actual name. Nobody really knows who - or what - the Green Man really is, but through the Bosconero family he provided a lineage strong with sorcerers and alchemists, and sometimes his passed down powers would surge in a family member as an uncommon magical ability. Because of the Green Man’s ties to the land and the seasons, it was common in the family to develop magical abilities tied to earthen powers - and it didn’t spare the current generation when, nine months later, on a foggy first day of November, twin girls made their entrance to the world right on time for the yearly Autumn celebrations customary to the Valley of Thorns, when it was said the Green Man would end a cycle of life for it to start anew in the following months.

***

\- Bianca, Neve, you did an excellent work with that charm. 

\- Beauty and talent, with those, you will be able to properly carry the name of our house! Now try again, to make sure you have mastered it.

\- Yes mother, father…

\- No! How are you supposed to represent us if you cannot repeat such a simple task? 

\- Failure is not an option with our name on the line. 

\- Sorry, mother, father…

\- We will try again.

***

While there was a widely known reputation for the inhabitants of the Valley of Thorns to remain fairly isolated, partly due to the fear their overlords, House Draconia, would inspire, it didn’t mean none of them were socially active. The Bosconero household was a prime example of it, with a historically strong tie to the magical community as a whole, as well as a fairly large social network that would cover both the Valley and other places. One of the most well-known figure of the family was the great sorceress Margherita Bosconero who, during her time at the head of the Magic Council, had pushed revolutionary reforms regarding the regulations and teachings of magic. She was also the one who had taught Crimilde Bosconero everything she knew and in turn, Crimilde was determined to raise her daughters to a level fitting their rank - and possibly reach new heights as well. 

As such, Bianca and Neve’s chilhood was filled with a variety of lessons and acitivities to meet familial expectations at every level. They were taught everything there was to know about etiquette, learned about history, science and literature in order to develop their ability to discuss about anything with anyone, They learned about the importance of an impeccable presentation - the first impression always mattered, after all -, which involved many details, such as a proper posture, a sensible sense of fashion, the many ways one could use their body language to convey or hide thoughts and feelings. They were taught about all the proper activities a lady was expected to master, such as spinning wool, creating embroideries, weaving delicate patterns, singing and playing instruments beautifully, writing and drawing with an elegant precision. 

And then, there was the study of magic. If Crimilde was generally strict in the way her daughters were being educated, she was exceptionally so when it came to that side of their lessons. The family had a reputation and the two girls had to uphold it in the best way possible. Adding to that was the pressure to see if one of them hopefully had the family’s Gift - not having it was not an issue in itself, however it was deemed an incredibly valuable element for the sake of added prestige. For that reason, Crimilde would show a worryingly increasing degree of ruthlessness while overseeing the education of her daughters over time. The girls would be praised when they executed their exercises in a satisfactory manner, and put down when a failure happened. They would be subtly pitted against each other, in the hope this competition would push them to go further in their study. 

Then, the Gift showed itself during a lesson of defensive magic, revealing at the same time Bianca’s unique magic. Twisted branches appeared from the ground and envelopped Bianca, its long thorns piercing her clothes and skin in many places. Then _pitch black_ started writhing and Bianca has no recollection of what happened next. She woke up two days later, bandages here and there and an elated Crimilde by her side. The Gift had sprung up again, and in a spectacular manner! As a proof of its power, Bianca had entered a state of overblot - which had been swiftly stopped by Crimilde. From this point onward, Bianca became the center of attention of the family and had to meet even higher expectations. 

It’s around this time that the sisters were introduced to social life in the magical world, participating in various gatherings, meeting people from various regions of the world and discovering new places as well. After all, one of the strong points regarding the Bosconero family’s standing was their ability to curate their network and generally be part of the socialites. And there was no better publicity than the announcement of the Gift surging yet again. Yet, a dissonance started growing. Promised child only when success was met, promised child only when smiling to other people was required. Again and again, to appease her mother she started taking it out on herself and unconsciously compromised her own sense of self everytime. Worst of all, she was on her own, the entire situation having caused a rift to grow between her and Neve, who was left behind in her shadow the whole time. 

However, the situation went in the opposite direction when it came to light that Bianca, for all of her abilities and best efforts, had an issue that was deemed unsolvable. Contrary to her sister’s not-as-impressive magical powers, yet steady growth, her own was irregular and more and more punctuated with times off magic to reduce a blotting that happened faster than it should have. A point was reached, during which Crimilde simply expressed her immeasurable disappointment by deeming Bianca as defectuous, and then proceeded to report all the attention to Neve instead, certain that she was the one who should have had the Gift instead. Then, everything became incredibly obvious, and Bianca started realising with horror the dissonance she’d been putting herself through in order to keep going.

*** 

\- Neve… Neve! 

-… It’s the middle of the night, go away!

\- We need to talk. 

\- Wha-… Now?

\- Yes, it’s the only moment when we’re left alone.

\- What do you want?

-… Are you ok with that entire situation we’re in?

***

Bianca tossed, again and again. Every night, for days, she tossed in her bed as she was carefully pondering her situation and the action she should take to get out of it - to save herself. 

Lately, she’d been having this oppressive feeling, something writhing and screaming deep inside. She’d been feeling wary too - a peculiar feeling considering how young she still was by the Valley’s standards. Getting up with the knowledge that it was yet another day during which she’d have to become her parents’ adorable and quiet girl was heavy. Getting up with the knowledge that another surge, another mistake, would lead to the reminder that her sister was doing much better than her despite her lacking _the gift_ bestowed by the Green Man. Yet she had to tolerate it, for the love of her parents, the love of her sister, and the necessity for the family to appear _united_.

Yet as time passed, it was making her sick. She felt like a monkey repeating tricks for whoever would lie their eyes on her. But she had to give a good impression, right? And uphold the status of her family, both in the Valley and in the magical world, right? It was her duty as the newest generation of Bosconero, after all… And she didn’t want any of it any more. This made her feel like a spoiled child, and the guilt born from it only served to make everything feel even worse. The worst part was when her family would participate in social gatherings, unknowingly having her observe other people the same way she’d observe her parents; direct interactions meant a work of reading the situation at various levels: what was said, what was meant… And what remained hidden. Over time, Bianca’s attention to details had been honed to the point she was able to swiftly adjust to any reaction just so she could obtain the safest result. This very situation had also led her to bury herself.

Again and again.

Bury herself, always deeper, to just choke and decay in an abandoned corner of her mind. After all, her very being felt unwanted. Yet, she had recently realised there was still a door to open when she noticed a tight knot in her chest at the view of a son and his father, during a social gathering like all the ones before. Until that pang, she thought she’d grown accustomed to that fleeting feeling of longing she’d occasionally have; it seems she had misjudged herself, though. And since then, the thought of a flight across the night sky, on her broom and with a simple luggage for companion kept following her. It’d be foolish to think someone would come for her, if she wanted to get her life under control, she had to do it herself. And she did it, after having heavily pondered on her situation, after having tried to convince her twin sister to come with her - to no avail, Neve was completely bound to the family and deluding herself as her own mean of survival. 

So Bianca took off on her own one night, to fly as far as she could, disappear for a while and settle somewhere peaceful.

***

\- Back when we met, you talked about _motivations_ , but there’s one you never told me. 

\- Do you want the straight-to-the-point version or the flowery one?

\- Whichever expresses best what you had in mind back then. 

\- Alright. Then I’ll have you know, kings and princes become much less scary when you consider they sit on their ass the same way everybody else does. It’s easier to treat them as actual persons when one perceives titles as overrated.

-… Straight to the point, indeed. I’d almost be offended.

\- That’s why I kept it to myself~ ♪

***

The knowledge of fauna and flora imparted by her parents revealed itself useful for Bianca’s survival in the wild. At that point, she simply didn’t feel like dealing with more people, and wouldn’t risk it either - she had her own trail to clean up after in the first place, showing herself would be a liability for the time being. So she took the decision of going on a personal quest instead, momentarily abandoning all sort of connection to focus on herself instead. For the first time in her life, she had the possibility to do so and was in bad need of self-examination as well. Observing other people and comparing various situations to her own had made her realise something was off, and not just about her situation. Her very person had been moulded in a manner that would be sure to please other people, to do so she had sacrificed her will, thoughts and feelings again and again, until she found herself choking from self-loathing and incomprehension. She _needed_ to find herself again, figure out where this Bianca had been buried. There was simply no room for others at that point in her life. 

That is how her life in the wild started. As she went on a personal quest to find herself, she wandered left and right across the Valley, most of the times lost in her own clouds. It… Was not the greatest moment of her life. A lot of poison to swallow, truths to realise and accept, and then her own magic surging and occasionally going out of control - as if it was reacting to her own struggle and taking out what had been internalised for so long. Fear, anger, slackness, euphoria, giddiness… All of these feelings either shut down by Bianca or unwanted by her parents would feed her summonings and twist the world around her. Parts of the Valley where she dwelt for a time ended up gaining a fairly dark reputation over time, while she was giving herself time to work things out. It was writhing inside and out, and worst of all was the guilt of her incapacity to get her sister out of here as well. Of having left her behind and alone. It’s a period of her life where time somehow lost its meaning, distorted by her constant fights against herself for the sake of mastery. It’s ugly, dirty, foggy, and she remains elusive about it, merely sharing her surprising experience with general survival - both physical and mental. The most important lesson of these dark times is, however, a surprising yet massively important one for Bianca: she learned not only to fight, but to let go as well as years of poison built up in her heart was being absorbed and transformed into something new.

Once she got back on her feet, with a stronger foundation, the second step of her plan started. As she decided to keep using her knowledge in botanic, Bianca decided to pass for a wise woman, the sort that lives isolated in the forest and that people go seek in secret to relieve all sorts of ailments. She changed her name to Hilda and kept wandering around, even though she opted to dwell in the same place for a longer period of time. The look of a maiden and the wisdom of a crone, as well as her elusive nature, gave birth to some strange stories that would feed the local folklore. A young woman stealing people’s soul, an old woman protecting the hearth, a dreadful witch leading a charge across the sky and the thick forests of the Valley of Thorns… It’s when they met, too. 

Under blue moon, she saw him, as she approached guided by Idle, her slythering summon which was acting as her watchful eyes that night. Hidden at first, Bianca silently skirted around the tall, horned man while keeping an eye on him. They had never met before, yet she was aware of how he looked because of who he was - as such, Malleus Draconia’s silhouette was unmistakeable and it had her worried. Her personal situation had nothing legal to it and getting caught would lead to troubles that could easily reach further the family circle. However, he seemed very much alone and was inspecting the area without showing any sign of alert - on the contrary, he was the one who put her in that state when he called out while giving a long look at his surroundings.

\- This place isn’t abandoned anymore, there are traces of magic… Show yourself!

Bianca only had a few seconds to ponder on her decision. She could stay safe and hidden, and figure out how to keep him at bay. She could also comply to not push his patience - her luck - and maybe reduce the gravity of her situation by showing some good will. Either way, the risk was to make the situation worse and more _political_. So she took a deep breath to regain her composure and opted for the course of action she knew best, for she had been practicing it long enough to hone it: smile and stay light-hearted, gauge the situation in silence. 

\- Now _that’s_ a visit I certainly never saw coming. Not even a guard? 

Glowing green eyes fell on her as she came out of her hiding spot, cheeky half-smile plastered on her face. It felt pretty rude of her to conceal her intentions to the Crown Prince himself, but old habits die hard and she needed to see where she stood before making her next move. Though, having grown accustomed to dealing with a human population, she considered the fearsome reputation the Draconia household had while observing Malleus back. Why was he here, alone, in the middle of the night? There were these questions, and the fact that for everything the reputation stated about him, Malleus Draconia didn’t exactly feel like a terrifying being. If anything, he seemed oddly out of place, in Bianca’s opinion. Besides, nothing would be as anxiety inducing as her parents, in her eyes.

\- Wasn’t this place supposed to be abandoned? It was, last time I strolled around.

\- … _Strolled around_? Well, I settled in fairly recently, was even planning to rearrange a part of the garden to grow some stuff for myself… Look, is there a part of the area you’d rather have me leave untouched? I don’t really care, I’m pretty much passing by anyway, and I’m all alone so I don’t need much room. 

Initially taken aback by his reply, Bianca was quick to get back on her feet and react in a decisive manner to try and distract from the fact she wasn’t even supposed to roam around and settle the way she’d been doing in the first place. In turn, Malleus’ composed expression changed to surprise as she stated her proposition. Then surprise left place to something more thoughtful, before settling for a visibly amused smile. 

\- Negociating? Do you realise who you are talking to?

\- … Oh yes, I do, but my motivations for this negociation are better left for when we’re more hm _acquainted_ with each other. So, is it a good enough reason for you to still feel comfortable hanging around? 

Under blue moon, they kept meeting up and grew to enjoy each other’s company. His strong interest for gargoyles amused her, but her own interest for anything historical made their escapades to the four corners of the Valley of Thorns all the more pleasant. As habits begun to settle, they learned to read each other and it slowly downed on Bianca that she was growing attached to Malleus and everything that made him who he was. She simply couldn’t help noting the smallest details and appreciating each of them. The way his eyes crinkled when he smiled, how accidentally stern and teacher-like he would feel when sharing his hobby in the most serious fashion, his pout revealing more of his feelings than he could hide… And then there were heavier topics, chief of them his sense of isolation. Granted, Bianca wasn’t the best person in that regard since she was enjoying being on her own for the moment. Still, she understood the feeling and its implications, and didn’t judge his occasional discreet awkwardness - translated into a rather forward way of expressing himself, to the point of being odd and somehow backed by a logic only people who lacked proper social interactions would demonstrate. 

In return, she made an effort to be more open in the way she expressed her thoughts and feelings. It wasn’t easy since hiding and using them as strategic cards had been ingrained in her - it was, in fact, one the toughest habits she had to get under control to feel like a functional person. It was even harder because she had taken the decision to keep her Hilda persona around Malleus as well. It hadn’t been a pleasant decision to make, but she kept fearing a potential escalation of her issues - besides, Bianca wasn’t one to wash her dirty clothes in public, and so she preferred keeping the full extent of her issues to herself out of a sense of privacy. After all, she had set out on her own, her alone had to deal with the consequences of this decision. Nobody else would be dragged in. Yet these secrets weighted on her shoulders and she couldn’t help feeling guilty as he was being so pleasantly open to her. A part of her felt like she didn’t deserve so much kindness from him. 

Yet, under blue moon their relationship took a new turn, on a night when Malleus was helping Bianca settle in yet another hiding place. If he had questions regarding her situation and her habit to hop from place to place after a while, he kept them to himself but didn’t hide the occasional long stares with a thoughtful look - a graceful gesture the hedge witch became aware of over time and appreciated. However, for all of her observations, she never foresaw that one night coming, mostly because she never expected such a thing to happen to her in the first place. The details of what led to this situation still escape her to this day, but the most important ones remain: a look exchanged and _something_ in reaction that caused her breath to hitch, his discreet scent like tea, soft spices and winter fire, the warm feeling of skin against skin and a tingle spreading through her body, leaning into the sensation to get more of it. Soon, fingers found their way through hair and things started to heat up… Then stopped, as Malleus was holding a strand of her hair and looking at it, then at her, with a surprised look. 

\- You did tell me about those magical surges of yours… But I had never seen that sort of thing happen before. Did you?

\- What are you talking abo- blackthorns blossoms? No, that one is definitely new, though oddly specific. I wonder what could have caus-

Then it downed on her as she mentally considered the nature and properties of blackthorn tree. It seemed her own magic had a sense of humour and she was its victim, because the choice of plant was oddly appropriate, both in regard to the situation it decided to appear and mix in her hair, and in regard to the person that was involved in it. Bianca got redder by the second as she blurted out her explanation, eliciting the most charming reaction from Malleus in the process.

\- To put it simply, I’d say you… You-made-me-bloom. Literally. 

\- Pff… Hahahaha well at the very least, know that the blackthorn suits you perfectly. 

\- You’re enjoying it all, aren’t you?

-Oh, I enjoy it _a lot_.

Shortly after this event, Bianca’s cover as Hilda the hedge witch was destroyed. As she lowered her guard more and more around Malleus, she became complacent as well, and that’s how she made the mistake of leaving traces for her mother’s assistant, Erico, to follow. Up until now, her parents had waited for her to come home, and her mother had sent the man when she realised her runaway of a daughter had no intention of coming back. Following her had proven difficult, between the erratic patterns she had either purposefully or accidentally created and her cautious nature, she’d proven more elusive than expected. _Not surprising, considering the roots of her magic_. The wild itself was her domain to rule over, the twisted magical left overs of some of her early rampages had proven so when he went and observed them. 

Under blue moon, Bianca found herself cornered and felt an anxiety she thought she had managed to overcome hold her in a metaphorical chokehold again. And when Erico called her name - her actual name -, it felt like the first of a series of slaps in her face as the new reality she had built for herself fell apart. A magical fight ensued, during which Bianca noticed for the first time how far she’d come with her small but steady, daily practice. Had she stayed home, she would never have been to reach that level of mastery - even though she still had to summon Folly, a large dog-like beast, as well as sets of thick blackthorn bushes to keep the assistant at bay. As they finally came to a standstill, Bianca holding him with bushes full of long thorns slowly getting tighter around him, negociations started and poison flowed.

\- Lady Bianca, you have to come home, your parents are concerned about your safety!

\- My safety? Or the fact that I may cause a smear on their good name? Unless it’s an interest for what I bear? Concerned about me as a person, I don’t think so. Tell me, what do you think of my current magical abilities?

-… You’ve grown, Lady Bianca, but you’re still young and -

\- Do you think I owe that growth to _them_? The very persons who threw me away because of what they considered a defect? The only reason they want me back is because _I_ carry our family’s Gift. It makes me no better than some broken tool, just because I blot too quickly. But here, outside, I managed to become a person again, and it’s all _my_ work, I don’t owe the family a single thing! Do you think I will allow you, or anybody else to take that away from me? Do you _really_ think that?

\- My lady please, at least come back home to share your sister’s burden - ACK!

\- Share her burden? She chose to be on her own. But please, keep spouting that sort of nonsense, see what my thorns think of it!… You’ll bring a proof back to my mother. Something to show her that it’s pointless to follow a dead trail. 

On these softly threatening words, Bianca went to her current hiding spot, leaving Folly to keep watch over the assistant. A dead trail it would be, as she ramaged through her stuff and got out to prepare a simple transforming charm. Quickly, animal bones got turned into humanoid bones, which she wrapped in a dark fabric. 

\- Since you were following orders, I’ll let you go back to my family, but you’ll bring them these bones. Tell them this it what you found at the end of the trail. You’ll be freed from this cat and mouse game in the process, isn’t it nice? Your Lady Bianca Bosconero is _dead_.

After she released the assistant from her magical hold and saw him off with the fake bones, Bianca collapsed on herself. Even though she had clearly gotten better at handling her magic, pushing her limit and walking it like a tightrope, it was still exhausting. In bad need of a rest, she considered not using magic for a little while to be the safest option if she wanted to recover properly. What she didn’t consider was Malleus witnessing the end of that exchange as he refrained from joining her, seeing that she was very obviously in quite the situation. 

-… _Bianca Bosconero_? From the Bosconero household? Is it who you are?

*** 

_M., I think this will be the last letter between us for a while. I’m sorry things have come to that, but you know I don’t want you to be needlessly involved in my personal mess. I’ll try to figure a new way out, I’ll let you know as soon as it happens. In the mean time, please take good care of yourself. I love you._

*** 

Malleus didn’t take her lie well and let it known through his scowl. However, he accepted to listen to her, and Bianca chose to talk about her situation, for the first time in years. It was clumsy and oddly unemotional in some parts, as she tried to be as detached from her recounting as possible. She remained afraid of letting to many things out, because she knew she’d break if she were to do it. Bianca wasn’t ready to break yet. Even though she had learned to let go, there were still things she desperately held onto to keep her head up. By the end of her explanations, Malleus’ scowl had left place to a more thoughtful expression. They spent the entire night together, and he kept coming back in the following days. His kindness went straight to her heart. 

Once she recovered from the encounter with her mother’s assistant, he offered to help her work on her magic by being her sparing partner. She decided to focus mostly on defensive magic, fully aware that once her mother would have realised she’d been tricked by the bones, there was a high chance that she’d make the next moves herself. She needed to be ready to deal with what was coming her way, especially when it would come the woman who’d been trained directly by Margherita Bosconero. As such, having a proper set of spells to defend and attack, as well as an increased mastery of her unique magic, was necessary. The latter, in particular, had the possibility to provide Bianca a control of the field as long as she paced herself properly and kept a clear, focused mind. 

Facing her mother was probably one of the hardest things Bianca ever had to do in her life. Not simply because of her power, but because of the terror she inspired her despite not having seen each other for a long time. Bianca held her ground for a surprisingly long time thanks to the preparations she had done with Malleus’ help, but in the end it prove to no avail. She was still too young and too swayed by her emotions. When the blot started to accumulate to much, when her mother’s onslaught of spells started getting past her defenses, Bianca felt herself fail and a sinking feeling, deep inside her, that she thought she had managed to keep under control, grew and made her crumble in the end. 

Bianca’s home became her golden cage. She found herself sitting inbetween parents who not only viewed her as a general failure, but as a disappointment as well, while her sister remained… Cold. Bianca never asked what had been happening during her absence, but the way her sister held herself - as if she was a new version of their mother, was disturbing to witness. With that in mind, she started isolating herself more and more, both in the house and in her own mind in order to escape the pain her new situation was giving her. Reading and writing became her hobbies to kill time in a pleasant way and express herself in a way that wouldn’t cause harm to anybody. She also sent letters to Malleus regularly with the help of Sly, her twisted bird-like summon, and kept his replies well hidden. Not being able to see him was painful and even worse was the news that her mother had caught on Sly’s flights and was preparing a spell to make sure it would stop. When Idle, ever the watchful eyes, had reported on that, Bianca’s heart sank and she immediately prepared her last letter to Malleus, not knowing when they’d be able to read or even see each other again. On a sentimental impulse she still wasn’t used to, she decided to bluntly state her feelings as a promise to find a way out of her current predicament. 

Then, her days slowly became awfully similar and a numbness started overtaking her with time. It felt like being back to square one, with no way out this time. Bianca silently despaired in a house that made it clear she was unwanted, yet had to remain to pay for the shame she had brought her family. It ate away at her will in an insidious manner, until an unexpected saving grace, in the form of an invitation, arrived for her. Bianca and Neve both received an invitation to study magic, but in different schools. While Neve was called by Royal Sword Academy, Bianca was meant to attend Night Raven College. It didn’t bother her, quite the contrary. She was elated at the idea of leaving the house for some years and the news alone was enough to help her find some energy back. 

On the day the carriage containing the coffin that led to Night Raven College arrived, Bianca’s surprise increased when she saw a familiar silhouette ready to pass through the coffin-like door. The only reason she kept her composure was because Malleus wasn’t alone - next to him stood a smaller man with a boyish face. _Lilia Vanrouge_. As she was about to break into a run, Bianca managed to stop at the last second and proceeded to politely salute the two fae before following them through the door. During the entrance ceremony, amidst the whispers caused by Malleus’ presence at the college - a surprising turn of event, considering he was already among the best sorcerers world-wide -, both were sorted into different dorms by the Mirror. While Malleus joined Lilia in Diasomnia, Bianca found herself in Pomefiore, and nearly lost it as soon as the name was uttered by the Mirror. Of course, she had to be sent to the place where the most ambitious ones tended to be found. 

A few days later, as they settled in their dorms, Malleus and Bianca met under blue moon. For the first time since they met, Bianca didn’t hide a thing - didn’t even try to. Tears gathered and rolled, taking away with them the exhaustion accumulated over time. Her head rested on his shoulder and she basked in the gentle blend of tea, soft spices and winter fire she’d missed more than she expected. Being in different dorms and in different classes meant they couldn’t see each other as often as they’d like, yet the occasional meeting was good enough for them. Besides, a single year didn’t mean that much.

During that same year, Bianca started working a new solution out to counter her family’s power over her. She managed to get hired as part-time library assistant and poured much of her free time into the study of legislation. Her grades suffered as a consequence, but she waved it away, considering it a lesser immediate priority. She also took it upon herself to approach Lilia at some point during the year, in order to get further advices regarding the details of certain laws and how they applied in the Valley of Thorns. Considering Lilia’s age and experience, she deemed him a reliable source of information on the subject. By the end of the year, she reached out to the school’s staff and decided to be open about her issues and how it would impact her life in the following year. Not certain about her capacity to deal with everything at the same time, she asked for an authorisation to sacrifice her second year. If the request was initially received with a certain reluctance, arguing that dealing with her personal issues as quickly as possible would allow her to concentrate on her studies later on seemed to convince her teachers and the headmaster. 

As a consequence, she was fairly inactive as a student during that second year, busy working at the library and figuring out a way to at least obtain legal emancipation with the help of a counsellor. If the magic way didn’t work, Bianca hoped the legal way would do the trick. And by the end of that second year, it did. It may have brought a debt and a repeat of the year, but Bianca considered it a worthy sacrifice for her peace of mind. 

This is where she is now, as her new second year starts. Sitting in front of a mirror, in her dorm uniform, she adds some subtle touches to a makeup of the dramatic sort, created solely to go with the outfit and meant to signal a turn in her life, an affirmation of who she is as a person. After all, considering how this year’s entrance ceremony went as a non-magic wielding human and a beast caused havoc in the Hall of the Mirror, this year certainly promised to be _interesting_.


End file.
